Monday Coffee Shop: Recapping the weekend and looking forward

After some slow days when we needed to manufacture things to bandy about, today offers a larger batch of real Hurricanes hockey moves and news. And that in itself is something to be thankful for.

The team’s prospect pool is now 9 players deeper. Maybe equal in terms of significance is that the count of draft picks numbered nine which means that the Hurricanes used each and every one of the draft picks with which the team started the weekend.

Discussion questions

2) What do you make of the lack of a deal for a forward by Francis over the weekend but also the fact that the players he might have been targeting are still available?

3) Including the players returning from last year, who are you must excited to see at the Hurricanes’ prospect camp this week?

Go Canes!

13 Comments

ctcaniac
on June 26, 2017 at 6:39 am

1) Pleased. Every pick has potential given the round. The main needs were addressed: two tries for a center who can drive scoring; replenish the D pipeline; one goalie. Both 3rd round picks have a lot of upside. Overall, 8 sensible picks.

2) Teams make deals with other teams who offer something they want. IMO, any trade partners were trying to get a top 4 D out of Raleigh so they were holding the line hoping Francis would blink. Glad he didn’t. Not sure if Sakic or any of the other GMs will change negotiating strategy. We seem to be the Mercedes dealership–people look but ultimately go “down the street” to get their Nissan.

3) Nic Roy. Maybe, just maybe, the center the team needs is developing within the organization. He put up points at the same pace as Hischier in the Q last year, was dominant on face-offs, and is 20, so not super young. If he proves to be ready, then the “missing piece” is one scoring winger, which should be easier to figure out. I fully realize that even if Roy can play, he is not immediately a #1 C and definitely not a Duchene or MacKinnon. But realistically, J. Staal is doing fine–his stats are in the top half of the league, just not a scoring star. Rask is solid, and should have 8-10 more points in him. If Roy can contribute, then the need is for a forward who can add 20-25 goals. One can hope for this year, because at some point those appear to be the three Cs. Of course, I will repeat that Aho will/should be 1C at some point.

ct, as usual has hit the nail on the head with his comments. Therefoe, mine will be brief.

1. Happy with every pick. We apparently had a plan and stuck to it.
2. ct hit it on the head. Couldn’t say it better. Just as an aside on another hockey site they list 8 centers on the market and discuss the teams most likely to be involved in a trade for them. The only center they link to the Canes is Dominic Moore. Galchenyuk, Duchene, etc. are listed linked to other teams, but not the Canes.
3. Again, ct has it right. Roy is someone I’ve been waiting to see. Would also add Wallmark also.

There is still much for RF to do, The Canes have only 37 contracts signed. (They started last season with the max allowable, 50.) There are only 8 forwards signed at the NHL level. Typical is 13. The resigning of RFAs McGinn and Digiuseppe only get us to 10. There are 7 d signed. And 3 goalies. If you assume one goalie will be gone there are only 17 NHL contracts in place. RF needs to sign about 6 more NHL contracts and hire 7 more players for the AHL before he can take the rest of the summer off.

1. I like Necas a lot – I don’t know enough about the others to actually have an opinion.
2. The names that bloggers and fans may be targeting (top 6) may not be targeted by RF. Picks/prospects won’t get a top 6. I expect we will pick a top 9, maybe two. I really think a couple of AHLers are going to step up in that role.
3. Necas, Roy, Foegele. Is Kuokkanen attending?

Surgalt has some good comments on the number of contracts, both total and NHL. I am curious the status of other teams currently.

My knowledge of draftees is limited, but I really like Necas too. Pure speed is a starting point and words like tenacious, difficult to play against, aggressive and similar great ‘compete’ type words seem to always find their way into his profile articles.

1. I was pleased. We seemed to get what we needed, and didn’t do any silly trades.
2. If all the available trades were gross overpayments, or strengthen one part of the team, while gutting another ,then better to wait for Free Agency and/or Cap Crunch time.
3. I agree with everyone else. Let’s see how Roy has developed.

1/ Pleased, but I don’t follow the draft-age players so have no real opinion of any. I really liked how Luke Martin handled the interview – now, if he can play like that …

2/ Like what ctcaniac said, too. RF has been methodical and patient in how he’s built this team and I think that continues. I think the key word has been opportunistic. I’m not sure why an NHL-ready prospect wouldn’t be good enough for either Galchenyuk or Duchene (ala Drouin deal). I continue to believe more players are in play and those aren’t the ones we’re targeting, but we won’t overpay for any of them and will simply be patient. (I day-dreamed over the weekend that we could somehow do a deal with VAN that includes Lack and Bo Horvat, but then I woke up.)

3/ Roy, Saarela (if he’s there), because I think I heard over the weekend the RF thinks he’s NHL ready and will make the team. Maybe he was talking about someone else though.

Draft…I give RF a B+/ A- good to very good…but could have been better.
Disappointed (of course) but…there’s still time, I HOPE?!!
Looking forward to Foegele, All of the draftees, other centers, and any of the prospect Dmen McKeown etc who could have an immediate impact here in Raleigh!

Overall, I think the brain trust did pretty well at the draft. A number of mock drafts had us selecting Necas, so that wasn’t a surprise. I’m very happy with Luke Martin in the 2nd round. There was significant buzz around Eetu Luostarinen growing in the last few weeks prior to the draft. My guess is he’s a pure Joni Pitkanen selection.

Wonder what would have happened had the Kings not selected Jaret Anderson-Dolan right before us in the 2nd.

Anyway, the third round was very good for us. If Geekie’s skating has improved and continues to improve he’ll be a steal, even as a 2nd year eligible guy. Mattheos was projected by most to go in the 2nd round, so that was a steal too. Pretty blue-collar guy who will help us down the road.

Like that we got a goalie in the 4th but don’t know anything about Makiniemi.

The lack of a move at the draft table was a bit disheartening, but it is clear that none of our NHL defenders are going anywhere except for a significant overpayment. Guys not named MacKinnon or Reinhart just weren’t getting done and those two probably weren’t really on the table. Clearly, my favorite deal w/MN didn’t materialize. But all in all, I’m glad we didn’t trade any of Faulk, Hanifin, Slavin, or Pesce.

I’m mostly interested in seeing some of the returnees. I’m hoping that both Kuokkanen and Foegele are even more polished. I’m also interested to see if Luke Stevens looks any less timid. I thought both Cotton and Filipe looked pretty good last year, so I’d also like to see if they’ve taken a step forward. Finally, I really want to see if LaFontaine is as good as he was in his time here last year.

What I mostly get out of development camp, is the ability to see how these guys skate and what they can do with the puck on their stick.